> Here is my point -- the potential losses are bounded. Are potential liabilities conjured up by corporate lawyers and awarded by courts limited by the amount

> Here is my point -- the potential losses are bounded. Are potential liabilities conjured up by corporate lawyers and awarded by courts limited by the amount of property or income you have right now, though? Because if they aren't, you could end up owing and paying from your future income as well. Also, we have bounded time, and having your goals significantly postponed by financial setbacks isn't necessarily just a temporary inconvenience. I'm not saying it's necessarily likely that one would end up paying anything, or a huge amount, or that people on HN (or elsewhere) wouldn't overestimate that probability or the potential damage, so of course this may be just a technicality. (Also, the comparison to driving may not be very good, depending on where you live. While accidents obviously do happen, and the results can be devastating or fatal, in many developed countries the probability of an individual ending up in a major accident isn't really that great if one does not engage in specifically risky behaviour.)